Rep. Donalds: 'Weakness Only Breeds Aggression'

In an exclusive interview with The Floridian, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) sat down to discuss current events in America today. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, China, and NATO were all on the table for this sit-down discussion. Donalds represents the 19^th district in Florida and is part of the freshman class of the 117^th Congress.

When asked about Russia and their impact on the global balance of power, the Florida Rep. added in response. “I think the bigger issue is that if Russia is allowed unilaterally to – not just dealing with Ukraine anymore – but to reconstitute the Soviet Empire. Now you’re going into NATO countries, you’re going into non-aligned countries who have relationships with the United States, similar to Ukraine. That’s something that destabilizes the balance of power.”

Moreover, politicians have invoked the idea that China is watching the United States’ approach to invasion of Ukraine. Furthermore, due to China’s relationship to Taiwan (or lack thereof), if the United States is weak, it could embolden the Chinese to act. Donalds responded to this idea with, “If the West is essentially just saying, ‘Oh, Russia is invading Ukraine, okay, let’s just turn a blind eye.’ That only empowers the Chinese to do the same thing with Taiwan… I’ve been saying this for a very long time. Weakness only breeds aggression. If you are weak in the face of a force, the opposing force is only going to be more aggressive.”

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has now entered its 6^th week.

An extended version of this part of the interview can be found here: